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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. rule — government
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. court — for sport
  5. clip — for paper
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. capital — money
  8. fall — the season
  9. capital — a city
  10. court — of a king
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. date — the fruit
  13. clip — a video
  14. hand — help
  15. clip — to cut
  16. court — of law
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. rule — a law
  20. fall — to drop
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. hand — in cards
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. pitch — completely

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com